Solace.

>You are Anon.
>And the week, as usual, wasn't that kind to you.
>However, for persisting through it, you'd been rewarded as the weekend graced yourself with its presence.
>Friday was gone, and Saturday had been spent doing meagre tasks and having a well deserved break.
>It was getting late, the dying glows of the sun bleeding over the horizon, and you were about to head off and get some sleep.
>However, you pause as you hear a knocking, at your door.
>Heavy, sporadic, and without rhythm.
>You look out the window, but whatever it is doesn't come into view.
>You must be hearing things.
>The door thumps again, and you can see the door react, too.
>Either you're seeing things, too, or...
>Besides, who'd there this late? And that knocking's just...off, abnormal.

>You open the door, and are met with an unfathomable sight.
>You see a pony, coming up to about chest height, with, strangely, a mint green coat, with a tail of the same colour and white, and a depiction of what seems to be a small handheld harp on its flank.

>But that wasn't the half of it.
>Its neck stopped about 3/4 of the way up, cut unevenly and roughly, and its head had been grotesquely replaced by some kind of crude, horrid machine, and from its stomach, that hung open, draped numerous cables and cords, all horrifically stained red by something you are certain is the cause, but still try to disbelieve.

>You exclaim, and recoil in shock, jumping back from the door.
>You want to close it and try and put this out of mind, but you stay rooted to the spot.
>The...thing was shuddering, trembling heavily when you opened the door, yet it seemed to ease slightly when you shouted out.

"W-What is that thing?"
>You whisper quietly to yourself, completely bewildered by and afraid of what stood before you.
>Yet, something, be it a gut feeling or the "modifications" that just didn't look normal, told you this was not to be feared.
>Whatever had happened to it, you don't think it was here to harm you.
>It slowly took a step forward, as if it was trying to feel its way around, coming to a stop as one of its forelegs brushes against your own, not much short of bumping into you.
>With incredible caution and delicacy, it raised a hoof out, feeling along the length of your leg.
>Whatever this was, it didn't seem like it had the sense of sight.

>As your initial shock began to fade, sympathy took its place.
>This thing, for now, at any rate, wasn't trying to harm you, and you began to see it for what it (probably) really was, a poor creature that had had these horrific alterations made to it.
>Putting your thoughts to the test, you crouched down and took its hoof in your hand.
>It tensed up as you did so, and its quaking all but disappeared.
"You poor, poor creature."
>As much as this thing was a horror to look at, you thought it deserved your help.
>A decision you'd made without much thought as to what that would entail.
>You hesitantly place a hand on its back, and though you were sure it had no sight, it felt as if it was looking back at you.
>Whether it was smiling or not at you was a different question entirely.

>The creature's shaking stopped entirely as you laid your hand upon its back, your presence seemingly giving it comfort.
>You move your hand down to its side, trying to get a feel for just how badly its coat was caked in blood, but the creature jumped at your touch.
>Clearly, it didn't want anything going near its stomach cavity.
>Can't blame it, really, because neither did you.
>And the sight of blood was getting more and more sickening with each passing moment.

>You stand back up, and slowly lead it upstairs, never letting go of its hoof as it hesitantly makes each step.
>Eventually, you reach the top, and you lead it to your bathroom.
>From there you spend the best part of an hour cautiously washing the blood and dirt from its coat, taking care to avoid the more...delicate parts of it.
>It stood still the whole time, any physical expression of fear it had long since removed.
>You gave it solace, you were sure of that.
>And there was no way you were going to let it back out into the loneliness.
>You'd thrown yourself in at the deep end, but now you practically had made a commitment.

>With its coat clean, you gently dry it off, and face one of the more unpleasant aspects of looking after this thing.
>It needed a place to sleep.

>With a sigh, you reluctantly lead it to your bedroom.
>Once there, it seemed familiar enough with what was going on once it realised where it was, as it unhurriedly hoisted itself onto your bed.
>You climb in alongside it, its stomach cavity in full view, something it probably didn't know.
>As much as you fight the curious temptation to take a look, you fail.
>A decision you immediately regret.
>From the looks of it, there were body parts still inside, accompanied by a number of hideous mechanical components.
>The image sticks in your mind, plaguing it, keeping you from sleep most of the night, while the mechanised monstrosity that lay beside you seems to sleep much more soundly than you do.
>Which, frankly, is all that matters to you right now.

-----
The Next Morning
-----
>As you pull yourself out of what little sleep you got, Sunday morning arrives like any other.
>Curtains soaking up the sunlight, the cool morning air on your skin.
>And a horrific piece of work by your side.
>You almost forgot about it, jumping a little as you turned and saw it laying by you.
>As your heart rate falls back down, you get up and dress yourself, leaving your normal morning routine in favour of waiting for the creature.
>After all, it's not going to get far without you.
>As it begins to wake, it stirs with renewed vigour.
>Moreso than you expected.

>The creature feels around until it's sure it's found the floor, before pulling itself from your bed.
>Immediately, it begins to stalk the room, guiding itself around by feel.
>Catching on that what it's doing, you rush over to its side, and take its hoof in your hand again.
"I'm here."
>Your touch and words relieve its tension, and you can feel its ease knowing you're still there for it.
>You think to yourself in silence.
>Why did you bring this on yourself?
>Why have you gone and made yourself the guardian of this thing?
>Leading it back downstairs, you banish the thoughts with one answer.
>Because you are not a cruel man.

>As you reach the bottom of the stairs, you note the creature moves faster than it did yesterday.
>It's had rest, yes, but it's faster than you expected.
>And then it does something you really didn't expect.
>It walks ahead of you and takes the lead.

>Dumbfounded, you follow along, confused and bewildered at how this thing is moving so effectively without needing to feel around where it's going first.
>You're certain it's blind, only serving to complicate things more.
>At last, it stops in front of a door you recognise as the one leading to the basement, tapping on it with a hoof, as if it's desperately trying to get your attention.
>Opening it, you take hold of its hoof again, and slowly coax it down the stairs, wondering to yourself what's going on all the while.

>Reaching the bottom, it begins to search around, sticking close to the walls as you follow it around with a hand on its back.
>It stops in front of a random portion of wall, standing expectantly, confusing you even more.
>You assume it knows what it's doing, and for your sake, you hope it does, and begin to inspect the wall.

>After about a minute, you find something.
>An abnormal crease.
>Pressing into it with your finger, you come to realise that the way the basement always looked wasn't at its barest.
>This was wallpaper.
>It had been like this the whole time?
>This was how it'd looked since you bought the house, years ago.
>Without further ado, you pushed against it harder until you made a split, and tore the paper away.
>Behind it laid a secret, something that made you feel like a trespasser in your own home.
>A door.

>You stand for a moment, eyeing up the old looking door in amazement, before turning the handle and leaning into it.
>However, the door doesn't budge.
>You gently pull the creature back from the door, and try slamming yourself into it, to no avail, yielding only a slight pain in your shoulder, although you do hear a slight rattle on the other side.
>Coming to the last in a short list of ideas, you rock back and swing your leg up, delivering a powerful kick to the door, taking care not to fall backwards.
>Hurting this creature was the last thing you wanted to happen.

>To your happiness, your kick was a success, and the door swung open, knocking over a stack of boxes behind it, probably meant to try and keep it shut.
>You put your hand back on the creature's back, and walked inside with it.
>Whatever this was, you felt it was big news.

>Heading into the dark that laid beyond the door, your eyes soon adjust, and what lies before you is spartan as best.
>A small room, with a couple of tables with remnants of pieces of paper strewn about everywhere, and a tripod and camcorder facing...
>A featureless wall.
>You decide to take a look around the room, addressing the creature beside you.
"Wait here. I'll still be here."
>With that, you go to take a look around, particularly the pieces of paper dotted around.

>Reading the few of them that you did, you find they've been torn, their edges uneven and rough, and the paper itself usually very small.
>The writing itself is smudged and hard to read, but you do pick up a few words here and there.
>"discov-"
>"-ernate existan-"
>"-n a cartoon worl-"
>"-ormhole? portal?"
>With little to no context, the findings don't help you at all. You take a look at the camcorder, but it's heavily battered and damaged, to the point where you're sure it's pointless trying to use it.

>However, you find the largest remains of a piece of paper, with some very pertinent information discernible.

>"Subj- : One (1) Indigenou- -eature. Coat: Mint. Eye-"
>This was definitely the creature that sat and waited in the middle of the room, alright.
>"Notes: Appears to be a mythi- Strangely capable of s- Thought to be femal- -rance only reacts to the nati- Strong ma- capacity: use caution!"
>The paper cut off there.
>So, it was a 'her'.
>A mythical creature?
>Something about reactions.
>And possessing a dangerous capability for...something?
>This just keeps getting weirder.
>Leaving the paper, you approach the wall that was apparently so much cause for interest.

>You touch it.
>Nothing.
>You tap it.
>Nothing.
>You knock it. Hard.
>Nothing.

>You groan, and go back to the creature's side, laying your hand on her back.
"Why are you interested in this place?"
>With that, she rose to her hooves, and tentatively walked forward, as you followed shortly behind.
>As she drew close to the wall, it began to look more and more...off.
>The effect only worsened as the distance closed, and before long, it was pulsating, intermittently flashing white, before turning beige again.
>"-rance only reacts to the nati-"?
>"Entrance only reacts to the natives"?

>She was now standing right up against the wall, while you stood a bit further back, observing.
>But she stopped moving.
>She raises a hoof, and delicately touches the wall, only for it to burst into whiteness, flooding the room in bright light.
>Gathering that she must have been waiting for you, you reluctantly walk up to her side, both curious to see just what was going on, and scared to do so as well.
"I'm here for you."
>As soon as the words left your mouth, she jumped into the wall, pulling you in behind her.

>Your vision is overtaken by white light, before your senses return.
>And when they do, you feel no less than a dozen cold, hard metal tips all pressed against your neck.

>"Don't move a muscle, or this will be the end of you."

>The blinding whiteness drains from your vision to reveal that you were standing in a park, not far at all from cobblestone roads and old-looking houses, all of it having some kind of unidentifiable quality to them. Something that made them feel not entirely realistic.
>Then there was the inhabitants. All of them like the creature you ventured here with, small, chest-high technicolour ponies with their own unique, obscure marking on their flanks. Some even sported a horn or a pair of wings, definitely relating to the 'mythical creature' portion of the notes.
>However, before you can begin to appreciate what whoever wrote those notes was on about when they mentioned a 'cartoon world', you gain awareness of the situation you're in.

>Surrounding you on all sides are more locals, kitted out in golden armour, each with a spear pressed against your neck, glaring at you with venomous intent.
>Complying with the threat, you stay deathly still.
>Looking around, you see many of the natives stop in their tracks to take a look, some running away out of fear, or worse, to get their friends to take a look.
>If that wasn't enough, the pony beside you had gone back to trembling again.
>You didn't know if she could hear, or if feel was her only remaining sense, but you know you hadn't let her know you'd made it through safely, using the term as loosely as it gets.

>Not long after your arrival, after some hushed chatter, one of the armed ponies broke off from the group and was out of sight before long.
>Where he had gone was up to the imagination.
>The audience, meanwhile, grew and grew relentlessly, some looking at you, some looking at the creature by your side. No matter who they were looking at, their expressions showed the same things.
>Concern, fear.
>And disgust.
>Many of them muttered to each other, and you can pick up on random words in the air.
>"It's one of -them-..."
>"What are they waiting for? It deserves it."
>"Terrible creature."

>You know you are innocent, but the remarks judging you for a crime you did not commit did not evoke annoyance or anger, but a pang of guilt.
>Your thoughts are interrupted, however, as the armoured pony returns to the group, and they all withdraw their weapons from your flesh, though they still remain pointed at you.
>You rub the ache away from your neck, and drape a hand on the mint green pony's back, to a clamour of gasps from the crowd.
>Her shaking slows to a halt, and her composure is regained, causing even more quiet talk among the natives.

>At that moment, another bright flash of light occurs mere meters from where you stand, and you avert your eyes.
>When the effect wears off, you are treated to yet another vengeful sight.
>Before you stands another pony, much larger than all the others, easily reaching your head-height.
>The differences don't end there, as you see it is adorned with all kinds of accessories, with a long flowing mane of 3 different colours, you estimate, and this one has both wings and a horn.
>An Alicorn?
>Wasn't that what they were called?
>At its arrival, all around but you and the pony next to you bow.
>It quickly comes across that this is a bit more serious than law enforcement.

>As the locals stand back up, their murmuring increases yet again, giving less care to hiding their words.
>"She's mad, it's in for it now..."
>"Finally it'll get what's coming to it..."
>You deeply hope you won't.

>It eyes you for a full minute, looking over your form with apparent malevolence, before looking worryingly to the pony beside you.
>When it looks back at you again, its gaze becomes even more fiery than before.

>"What do you have to say for yourself?"

>The fact these things are capable of sentience, let alone speech, bewilders you.
>Not to mention the fact that this alicorn just teleported here.
>Judging by its voice, it, too, was a female.
>Now it's your turn to tremble.
"I...I am not the person responsible for this."

>As you reply, the crowd goes silent. Either they were as surprised you could talk as you were that they could, or they were waiting for this to turn sour.
>You hoped they weren't waiting for your punishment.
>Whatever that would be.
>The alicorn dismissed your response with another question, as you rack your brain trying to think how you could possibly prove your innocence.
>"My subjects who witnessed the kidnapping of Miss Heartstrings described her captor as a strange, two-legged animal, not too dissimilar from the Minotaurs. You seem to fit this description very well. Explain yourself."

>You remind yourself why you're doing this, why you made the decision to help this pony.
>With your back straight, you attempt to look strong in will, although beneath the surface right now, things weren't exactly the same.
>You are not a cruel man.
"I am not a cruel man. I was not the one who did this. My kind number seven billion, and there are people far worse than I. I found this creature out in the cold, alone and scared. I took it into my care, cleaned its coat of the blood and dirt left by others far more wicked than I. And then I vowed that I would be there for it, whatever it was. It needed help, and as fate would have it, I was the one to give that help."

>The alicorn looked over you again, spending a moment in silence after what your attempt to plead.
>"Your words alone are not enough for redemption. How am I to know if what you say is true? How can I be sure you are not the one who did this?"


>You find her disbelief after what you just said to be, frankly, offensive.
>This time, your stoicism was not false.
"If I was the sick bastard that did this, why on earth would I have brought her back?"
>You wanted to leave it at that, and leave logic to show your innocence, but you felt the urge to continue.
"I am not so vile that I would take a being like this and turn it into a monstrosity, much less bring it back to remind you of the grave things done."
>Your valiance melts away, leaving little more than a beg.
>You'd not come this far to fail now.
"Please. You have to believe me. I would feel like the true monstrosity if I had left this uncorrected."

>You'd never thought yourself to be too religious, but you prayed she'd find your words to be true.
>And to your relief, the anger in her eyes dissipated.
>Though still outwardly dismissive towards you, she sounded calmer, and less intent on having you condemned for someone else's evils.
>"...I suppose you make sense."
>With that, you heard some of the crowd behind her sigh.
>Whether they had come to believe what you were saying, or they were disappointed you'd not been sentenced, you weren't sure.
>"Very well. We will see to her. You, on the other hand...you are free to go."
>Go?
>You were NOT going to be made to abandon this, not now.
"Go? You think I'm just going to give up now and just hope it all turns out well? What kind of pathetic mongrel do you take me for?"
>Regretting your choice of tone, you try to ditch the anger and calm yourself down.
"Listen, I NEED to know she comes out of this alright. If you sent me back now, the ignorance would be unbearable."

>The alicorn gives a sigh at your persistence, though the anger in her eyes was all but completely extinguished.
>"Alright. We shall find accommodation for you somewhere. But I hope you understand, until we can be sure that you are completely clear of all involevement in this, I must have some of my guard keep watch on you."

>That was a small price to pay in return for seeing this put right.
"That's fine. Thank you. Thank you, very much."
>You move in front of the lime green pony, crouch down and take her hoof in your hand.
>Whether she could hear you or not, you hoped she knew what you were saying to her.
"I have to leave you for a while. You're going to be taken care of."
>Facing the fact that this was goodbye, at least for now, you began to well up in tears, your words reduced to but a whisper.
"I will be here for you. Never forget that."

>Fighting back the urge to let loose, you step back and let two guards escort her away, muttering about how they're "going to need all the regenerative magic in Equestria for this" as the rest finally stand down.
>Most of what the escorting guards said went right over your head, and you figured you had some research to do in your time here.
>The crowd began to disperse, two other guards escorted you away, and the rest and the alicorn headed off into the distance.
>Probably to that weird castle on the mountainside.

>Before long, accommodation was found for you in a spare room in a house belonging to one of the ponies you saw in the crowd.
>Thankfully, she'd been one of the ones who you'd managed to convince that you weren't a horrific mutilator.
>Still, she wasn't overly excited about having you there.

>The time went by slowly. You gained a decent amount of knowledge about this world, enough for you to get by, but the locals weren't exactly thrilled that you were here to stay, often receiving piercing glares as you made your way around.

>Days melded into weeks, that melded again.
>And every day you wished your efforts were coming to fruition.

Epilogue: Part 1
-----
>It had been a whole month since you brought that pony back, and you had been waiting ever since.
>Not knowing how she was doing was driving you insane.
>In the time, you'd learned all that you really needed to about this world.
>You'd learned the name of the pony you'd saved.
>Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings.

>Whatever life you led back on Earth was practically forgotten.
>Which gave you a troublesome thought.
>When all this is done, what will you do?
>With a reception like this, there's little way you'd be able to stay here and live a good life.
>But back home, things wouldn't be much different either.

>Things weren't peachy at all. The locals that didn't believe your story still despised you as much as they did when you arrived here. And the ones that did were still weren't the nicest of people.
>As a result, you'd not made many friends.
>Well, you'd not made any at all.
>But the thread of hope that Lyra was okay was all that kept you going.

>One day, you were out taking a walk. Receiving those glares, and ignoring them with your gaze fixed on the ground beneath your feet.
>You'd tuned out all of the background noise long, long ago.
>All that you could hear was the rhythmic tapping of your shoes on the ground.
>All the background chatter fell on deaf ears.
>Save for one word.
>'Lyra'.

Epilogue: Part 2
-----
>You hear her name, and your trance is shattered. All the talk of those around you, once silenced, now violently cascaded upon your ears.
>Keeping your head low, you look around, desperately trying to identify where it came from.
>Your vision comes to rest on a large group of ponies all surrounding one in the center with ceaseless chatter.
>As hard as it is, you try to look past the others and get a look it, and what you see confirms it.
>You see mint green.
>As happy as you are that she's okay, you're still hit by a wave of sadness.
>The locals hate you.
>As long as they're with her, there's no way you're getting anywhere near.

>You'd done so much for her, and she had no idea who you were.
>The hope that had powered you had been proved to be well-placed.
>But now, that was gone.
>You knew she was okay.
>But she'd never know you.
>So what else was there to look forward to?

>Covertly watching the group, you see Lyra emerge as a much more beautiful sight than last you saw her.
>You see her speak to the others, and are able to identify her voice from the others filling the air.
>And she had a wonderful, sprightly, cheery voice.
>But every good thing was offset by the grey truth that loomed over you.

>With a few short words from her, you see the rest of the group break off from Lyra, heading off where-ever.
>Growing tired of being plagued by the inevitability, you go back to staring at the ground.

>You see a shadow come into view on the ground.
>And of all the voices that you could've heard, it was that one.

>"Y-You're one of those...those things...right?"

Epilogue: Part 3
-----
>Your heart threatens to jump out of your chest.
>But your body does not express such a demeanour.
>You look into her captivating golden eyes, and give a curt nod.

>"A-And you're not the one who did...that...to me, are you?"
>You break your silence, fighting past the lump in your throat.
"If I had done that despicable act to you, why would I even be allowed here?"
>As you speak, she stops in her tracks, and her eyes go wide, accompanied by a gasp.
>"I-It w-was you!"
>You stop, too, with a renewed hope.
>She knows who you are?
"You...you know me?"

>"Your voice! It was YOUR voice I heard!"
>Tears began to stream down her face. And from what you could tell, they were tears of joy.
>A smile comes to your face, and you well up, too.
>"For the longest time, there was nothing, I was walking in the park one evening when this...thing, like a rift, opened up, and out jumped something looking like you. It took me, and they did..,they did horrible things, things I don't even know. I couldn't see anything, like the world had gone dark. All I could see was nothing, and all I could hear was white noise, it was...it was horrifying, I was terrified. I tried to scream, but I couldn't, and there was no-one to help me."

Epilogue: Part 4: The Choice
-----
>Her depiction shakes you to your very core, and you bring yourself down to eye level with her.
>"But one day, something happened, I heard a voice, someone nearby. Whoever it belonged to took me in, and wanted to look after me, and with that knowledge, I was able to rest comfortably. And when I woke up, the sleep was just what I needed. I could feel the rift, the magic on the other side, like a beacon. I couldn't have gotten back here without you. You must've had no idea what I was dragging you into, but you still put faith in me."
>Her shaky excitement gave way to an ecstatic whisper.
>"You saved me."
>Without another word, she wrapped her forelegs around you, pulling you in tightly, crying tears of joy in full force, unable to form any words but "thank you" over and over and over.
>Her hug completely blindsides you, and you sit bewildered for a moment, before you drape your arms around her back.
>The time for words was over.
>You'd done what you had to do.

>Now was the time to choose.
>After a minute in blissful silence, you whisper to her.
"I've seen my efforts through to the end, you're safe. I hate to say it, but...this might be where we part ways. After all, it's not like anyone else in this town is on good terms with me, and I still have a life back home."
>Lyra's hold on you closed even tighter like a vice, before she spoke back.
>"I have faith in you. And as long as one pony does, there's hope that everyone else can see you for the person you really are."

>Only one question remains now.

>Stay.

>Or go.

Epilogue: Part 5: Stay
-----
>Hope had been a powerful thing this far.
>It had helped keep the month of waiting for her from driving you mad.
>And even when there was but a sliver, Lyra ended up in your arms.

>And now you have more than hope.
>You have hope...
>And you have Lyra.
>There was a chance.
>More than a chance.

>You'd been gone for a month.
>Trying to get back to normal on Earth was almost certainly a fool's errand.
>But here, here things were beginning to look up.

>You gently brush a hand through Lyra's soft mane, reaching breaking point as tears begin to roll down your face, able to conjure only a whisper.
"Then I'm not going anywhere."

>You've done it.
>You'd saved the mechanical nightmare that appeared at your door all that time ago.
>You'd vowed to take care of it, and now she'd vowed to help you.
>Now, it was her turn to give you solace.

>Not far behind you stood the two guards.
>The pair who'd been keeping you under their watch the whole time, as if you were prone to murderous rampages.
>Though, given the circumstances, it was understandable.

>As the pair of you sat there, the two guards looked to each other.
>With a nod, they turned and headed away for the castle.

-----

>Before long, Lyra's promise came true.
>With her help, you were able to show the locals that you were not who they thought you were, finding yourself finally able to socialise with them without being rejected as a monster.
>Your life on Earth was forgotten.
>Because it was better here.

-----
The End.